Python: Functions

Included in the course

What you'll learn

• Use advanced features to write concise and efficient code
• Separate pure functions from functions with side effects
• Use higher-order functions to process lists
• Distinguish between the imperative and declarative programming paradigms
• Implement and apply decorators to functions

Description

In this course, you will study functions. We will discuss first-order objects, higher-order, and unnamed lambda functions. You will learn to use functions within other functions, write wrappers to extend functionality, and work with the built-in map, filter, and reduce operations. The knowledge gained in this course will help you design concise and efficient programs and separate side effects from clean code. We created this course for those who are new to Python. It is a good idea to take courses on collections, lists, and dictionaries to make learning easier.

Course program

• 1

  Introduction

  Learning about the structure, goals, and objectives of the course

  theory
• 2

  Positional arguments

  Introducing functions with variable numbers of arguments

  theory
• 3

  Named arguments

  Introducing named arguments in addition to positional arguments

  theory
• 4

  More about named arguments

  Learning how to work with named arguments and declare keyword-only arguments

  theory
• 5

  Higher-order functions

  Learning how to declare higher-order functions

  theory
• 6

  Map, filter, and reduce

  Getting to know the most famous higher-order functions

  theory
• 7

  Built-in map, filter, and reduce

  Learning more about the built-in map, filter, and reduce

  theory
• 8

  Closures

  Learning about closures, an integral programming tool with on-the-fly functions

  theory
• 9

  Anonymous functions

  Learning how to declare small, unnamed functions within expressions

  theory
• 10

  Decorators

  Introducing decorators, a tool distinguishing Python from other languages

  theory
• 11

  More about decorators

  Learning how to use decorators with parameters and wrapped functions

  theory
• 12

  Recursions

  Learning about recursions in mathematics and programming languages

  theory
• 13

  Additional resources

  Some materials the Hexlet team have picked up. This will give you a more in-depth understanding of the topic